LaRoque sentencing delayed

Published: Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 12:06 PM.

GREENVILLE — Former N.C. Rep. Stephen LaRoque and his defense team may have another chance to defend themselves against fraud charges.

Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard announced on Tuesday that a hearing to consider a possible new trial has been set for Thursday, Sept. 12 in the U.S. Courthouse in Greenville, where LaRoque was convicted on 12 charges in June on illegally taking money from his economic development nonprofit. The United States attorney has until Monday to file a response to Howard’s decision.

On June 7, LaRoque was convicted in Greenville of stealing money from his nonprofits, concealing the theft, knowingly lying to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and committing tax fraud by not properly reporting the money.

Sentencing was originally set for Tuesday, Sept. 10, but Howard’s decision now sets that aside until after the hearing.

Two of the 12 guilty verdicts (both tax fraud convictions) against LaRoque were set aside on Aug. 1 by Howard after it was revealed that one of the jurors — Jerry Miller of Jones County — conducted research on the IRS website to better inform himself about the laws governing “S” corporations, one of the key parts of the case.

In an exclusive interview with The Free Press on Aug. 13, Miller said he based all his votes of guilty on his decision on his Internet research. He said without the independent research outside the courtroom, he would never have voted LaRoque guilty on any of the 12 charges.

GREENVILLE — Former N.C. Rep. Stephen LaRoque and his defense team may have another chance to defend themselves against fraud charges.

Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard announced on Tuesday that a hearing to consider a possible new trial has been set for Thursday, Sept. 12 in the U.S. Courthouse in Greenville, where LaRoque was convicted on 12 charges in June on illegally taking money from his economic development nonprofit. The United States attorney has until Monday to file a response to Howard’s decision.

On June 7, LaRoque was convicted in Greenville of stealing money from his nonprofits, concealing the theft, knowingly lying to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and committing tax fraud by not properly reporting the money.

Sentencing was originally set for Tuesday, Sept. 10, but Howard’s decision now sets that aside until after the hearing.

Two of the 12 guilty verdicts (both tax fraud convictions) against LaRoque were set aside on Aug. 1 by Howard after it was revealed that one of the jurors — Jerry Miller of Jones County — conducted research on the IRS website to better inform himself about the laws governing “S” corporations, one of the key parts of the case.

In an exclusive interview with The Free Press on Aug. 13, Miller said he based all his votes of guilty on his decision on his Internet research. He said without the independent research outside the courtroom, he would never have voted LaRoque guilty on any of the 12 charges.

Bryan C. Hanks can be reached at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCHanks.